TONY Blair has badly misjudged the result of the General Election, a senior North-East Labour MP said last night, in a stinging attack on the Government's plans to increase private sector involvement in public services.

Bishop Auckland MP Derek Foster said: "The instruction to deliver is not a mandate to privatise. Mr Blair has recognised the instruction to deliver, but he has not recognised how to do it."

Mr Foster was speaking at a debate in Durham City about the future of public services organised by the public services union Unison.

He said: "I'm not certain the Government has worked out the agenda for change. I want better public services. I want change and innovation, and that should come from the proper management of the frontline staff. Privatisation is wrong because it demoralises the frontline staff."

Referring to Mr Blair's legal background, he said members of the Government lacked experience in managing organisations as large as the NHS.

"Most of them have never run even a chip shop," he said.

"There's no depth of understanding of managing change in an organisation."

Mr Foster, who earlier this week lost his job as chairman of the Commons Employment Select Committee, backed Unison's campaign against Private Finance Initiatives.

He said: "We want the broadest coalition to mobilise public opinion.

"In Parliamentary terms, the Government is almost impregnable, but it is susceptible to public opinion and so we have to show it that there is no wish for privatisation."